Director Wes Anderson isn’t like most filmmakers and his most recent film, “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” is not like most trips to the movies. In fact, with so many brilliant independent features being shoved to the side in favor of multimillion dollar productions like “Ocean’s Twelve,” it’s a wonder how he still continues to find work in America. In his fourth film, Anderson again welcomes the audience into another intellectual conversation on human nature and continues to feed his fans with the same dry and simple humor that made his earlier work so enjoyable.
Bill Murray stars as the title character, Zissou, a pot-smoking oceanographer and renowned deep-sea documentary filmmaker whose fan base has since declined. Producing a series of films in order to finance his outlandish expeditions, his latest adventure sends Team Zissou on a hunt to track down the mysterious jaguar shark that killed his best friend Esteban (Seymour Cassel). Incredibly depressed by his death, Zissou is sprung into a state of catharsis with the sudden arrival of the son he never met, Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), an Air Kentucky co-pilot that joins the outrageous voyage.
Wes Anderson is one of the most interesting filmmakers in Hollywood today and his films are some of the most underrated productions in years. “Rushmore” received only a little bit of critical attention for Murray’s performance and “Royal Tenenbaums” had critics arguing over its narrative strength. “The Life Aquatic,” strangely enough, is by far Anderson’s most mainstream film to date, yet it is still the most eccentric film of the season. The film doesn’t achieve the same level of greatness that I had come to expect from Anderson’s past work, but that does not signify that the film is bad in any way.
The entire cast does a stellar job with the script and the story (co-written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach) is probably his best so far, but “The Life Aquatic” doesn’t have the same comedic zest that made films like “Bottle Rocket,” “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums” instant hits. For those that do enjoy Anderson’s work, you will probably smile more than you will laugh, but you will also be more content with the overall material in the end. I’ve been wrong before although (I originally hated “Tenenbaums” only to later recognize it as my favorite Wes Anderson film) and wouldn’t be surprised if “The Life Aquatic” gets better with each viewing.
3.5 / 5 Stars
Starring: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Angelica Huston
Director: Wes Anderson
